This practice guide is aimed at social workers who have been working with children and their families in cases where there have been concerns about child sexual abuse, and at professionals who are likely to have an ongoing or new role in working with a child and their family once children’s social care are no longer involved.
Why will children’s social care no longer be involved?
After being alerted to concerns that a child may be being or have been sexually abused, children’s social care will have led a child protection enquiry or a multi-agency assessment of the child, which may have resulted in the child being supported through a child in need plan or a child protection plan.
At some point, children’s social care will decide that their ongoing intervention is no longer needed, because the child is safe and their immediate needs have been met; they will then bring their involvement with the child and their family to an end, unless another child in the family needs support or protection.
This doesn’t mean that the child and their family no longer have ongoing support needs. There is still much that other professionals and organisations can do to address those needs, including through an early help response.
Under Families First transformations, the family may continue to receive Family Help without any statutory involvement.
How may the child be feeling?
The child and family may be feeling a complex range of emotions. They may feel relieved that their case is being closed, especially if they believe they can now cope with the impact of any abuse or feel there are no longer concerns about their own sexual behaviour. Alternatively, they may feel abandoned and anxious about losing support from children’s social care.
It is common for the child and their family to feel angry and interpret the decision as professionals t believing the abuse happened, thinking the harm was minimal, or expecting them to now feel ‘better’
The child’s feelings may depend on:
- the actions taken to safeguard and support them and their family.
- how effectively the impact of sexual abuse on the family has been addressed.
- their understanding of the ongoing needs of the child who has been abused or who has harmed others sexually.
“My social worker. I love her so much she’s just pure awesomeness … I can’t really explain it. She’s always been there, she’s like a real mummy. She’s my government mummy. She’s really cool. I am still in contact with her even though I am not with [service] anymore.”
“I think they could have given me and my family more support like afterwards cos it was sort of like as soon as we find out it wasn’t going to court or anything and then you’re left stuck in that situation. It was like ‘oh well’ we was left with like the aftermath sort of thing but no support or anything. We were just sort of left to cope with it.”
“They just wanna know a little bit then they take you away put you away and then that’s it. File closed. Or we’ll send you back to your family; send you back to drugs and drunks. And then close the file that’s it.”
How can the social worker best help the child/family?
As the social worker who has been involved with the child and family, make sure that you have carefully considered the needs and safety of the child and their family before deciding with your manager that the involvement of children’s social care is no longer needed.
- When closing the case, make sure that there is a proper handover to any follow-on services such as Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS), other therapeutic services, early help and/or third-sector organisations.
- Think about how you will inform the child and their family that children’s social care will no longer be actively involved with them. Consider how they are likely to react, and how you will respond to this.
How can other professionals best help the child/family?
If you are involved with the child and/or their family in a professional capacity, you can and should continue to support and protect the child after children’s social care are no longer involved. It is important for you to find out what the original concerns were, how they were responded to, why children’s social care are no longer involved, and what the ongoing needs of the child and their family are.
Regardless of what else is happening and what actions other agencies have taken there is lots that can still happen to help the child and their family:
- Consider what ongoing support the child and family may need.
- Reassure the child that they aren’t being disbelieved.
- Make sure that the child has someone they can talk to about any worries or concerns they have.
- Consider how the child will be protected - ensure the child understands that they can come to you if they are worried about anything.
- If at any point you have concerns that the child is being harmed, or concerns about the behaviour of an adult in the child’s life, talk to your safeguarding lead or contact children’s social care for advice on making another referral.